Our so-called "leaders" in Washington are being irresponsible on a level that is almost beyond comprehension.

They have and are obligating us to debt that will destroy prosperity in the U.S. for decades to come, perhaps forever.

Here is just one of many problems.

Suppose that you worked hard for 30 years and had managed to make $3 million over that time period. In terms of income, this makes you solidly middle-class. You also have the virtue of frugality and through solid budgeting, you have saved $1 million for your retirement.

During these 30 years, various governments collected well over $1 million of your income before you were even allowed to see it. In exchange for a part of that, the feds made solemn promises to you that when you reached a certain age, they would pay you back a proportion of your taxes as a type of monthly income and also help you with your medical bills.

The government spent every dime you sent them every year before the year was even out. They hid this fact by creating a paper trail in which one branch of government gave another branch of government a paper with a number on it reflecting how much money they had if they had money, which they didn't because it had already been spent.

The Democrats would mention this when it was to their political advantage and the Republicans would point to it when it was to their advantage, but in the long run, it was in everyone's best interest in Washington to lie to the American people and use the money to buy the next election, while denying that there was any problem.

In the meantime, the government went on a spending spree like nothing seen in the history of humankind, hundreds of billions for this and trillions for that, which very rapidly obligated the government to pay back more promises than the total value of everything produced in the entire country.

Presently, the government has been taken over by a rather arrogant high school class who seem much more concerned about who is with whom and who has control of what than anything that may happen tomorrow. Their motto seems to be, "Tomorrow? Sorry, my frontal lobes aren't mature enough to grasp that concept."

We may have already reached the point at which the government can no longer pay its obligations. If that is true, then their policy will be to reduce the debt burden by devaluing money.

What would that mean?

Inflation is the method governments use to steal money from their own people while not taxing them directly.

Suppose that the inflation rate was 50 percent over a certain time period.

Remember at the beginning it was suggested that you were a hardworking, frugal American who through a lifetime of hard work and saving managed to accumulate $1 million for your retirement. The money reflects real labor and real wealth.

After the time period when the government inflated money by 50 percent, your lifetime of work will now buy only half of what it would before. You have lost a half million dollars. This is not an illusion. The government has simply stolen half of your labor and wealth.

By the way, you never got to vote on this either.

At the same time, the government is sending you a Social Security check that will only buy half what it did before. By inflating the dollar by 50 percent, the government has done exactly the same as if they put a 50 percent tax on your Social Security and lifetime savings.

Now suppose that you aren't hardworking and frugal. You are not quite as bad off, but you will still get bitten because you are now poorer.

Sooner or later, with enough inflation, that Happy Meal at McDonalds is going to cost you $50.

No problem, some of you may say, because wages will go up proportionally. No. There is not enough money in savings and retirement accounts, and in fixed incomes to pay the government's debts. Minimum and other wages will go up, but not at the same rate as prices.

We will become as poor as if the government was taxing us directly to pay off their promises. And, at the current rate of governmental spending, that is going to be very poor indeed.